What If?
by TCGeek
Summary: What if the past as we remember it had happened a different way, drastically changing the future? Oneshot requestfic, DerekxAngie.


**What a bloody surprise - TCGeek wrote another long oneshot. Someone please alert the presses. **

**(endsarcasm)**

**So hey, everyone. This is a request from my buddy Mr. Fennessey. He has reviewed EVERYTHING I have written to date since I've started writing. Every chapter, everything. I seriously don't think he's missed a beat. So for that, I promised him this story, and another cute oneshot about Tyler and Leslie which will be up soon. This is also kind of dedicated to Blackwings, who craves DxA romance just about as much as I do. I sincerely hope you both like this.**

**Now, when I was approached with the idea for this, I was initially stumped. He wanted something where Derek operates on Angie.**

**That was the one thing I wanted to see in the Trauma Center series. Yes Angie cried when Derek was getting surgeried on (and freaked even more if you killed him!), but there was no cute cutscene, no nothing. People have written good adaptations of it, but we really never got to see Derek's side.**

**So then I thought - hmm... what if in the game, ANGIE was the one who got infected with Kyriaki and Paraskevi, leaving Derek to worry incessantly over her? How would things be different?  
**

**And thus, this fic was born. I think its an interesting spin, you can agree or disagree with me if you must, but I wrote a story about it, so there :D**

**I'm going to stop rambling now.**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

Derek and Angie wheeled their first successfully treated GUILT patient out of Caduceus Europe's operating room with a sigh of relief. It had been a particularly frustrating case, but they had defeated it just like all the other strains they had obliterated – together.

"I swear I will never get tired of watching the two of you operate – you make a positively amazing team."

Langston Miller's comment was met with an impressed nod from Dr. Kimishima, who had witnessed Derek's Healing Touch for the first time that afternoon.

At the positive words spoken about them, Derek and Angie exchanged a glance and a small smile with one another – it never bored him to relive their past, thinking of how close they had gotten… how far they had come from that bickering, inexperienced duo back at Hope Hospital.

Langston continued his praises and a conversation with Dr. Kimishima, but something else had stolen Derek's focus. He stared intently at Angie as she updated the paperwork, something… off, in her expression. Almost as though she was pained about something…

"Angie…?" he whispered, his blonde assistant turning up her head to look at him. He felt his mouth droop into a frown when their gazes met – her face was flushed, forehead slightly shiny from the sweat which was forming by the second. "What's wrong? You don't look well…"

Before she could answer, Derek's attention was pulled back.

"…Dr. Stiles?"

Derek turned to the side to see both Naomi and Langston staring at him intently – he had to come up with an answer quick, otherwise they would know he had been ignoring them.

"Um… yeah, sure… sounds great." he said quickly, hoping it was the answer they were looking for so he could attend to Angie.

Langston and Naomi shared a glance, Naomi's eyebrow raised as Langston shrugged his shoulders. Derek watched them both with interest as they turned towards him, wondering if what he had said even made any sense. As Langston's face suddenly lit up and Naomi passed on a look of surprise, he wondered what he had just agreed to…

"Thank you so much Derek – we'll see you tomorrow at 4 a.m.!"

"Aw... dammit!" he screamed in his mind, closing his eyes. He really should've been paying attention.

As the pair walked out of the room, Derek heard a chuckle from Angie, his attention snapping immediately back to her.

"Angie, are you sure you're alright? Why don't you go lay down and I'll finish this up…"

Angie looked at him again with a somewhat forced smile. "You… finish paperwork? Pshh…" she joked, her smile quickly turning into another wince. Derek instinctively stepped toward her but she held a hand out to stop him. "Really Derek, I'm fine, I'm just a little warm, and the only pain I'm in was the pain of having to listen to that man's ridiculous accent."

"THANK YOU!" Derek said, throwing his hands up in the air. "I thought I was the only one!"

She giggled, watching as Derek began to prance around the OR in the guise of the Brit, saying various words and phrases with his accent. If it weren't for the pain in her chest she most likely would've been brought to tears from laughter, but as the throbbing became more and more painful Angie found it hard to even crack a smile.

Somewhere in the show Derek was putting on the pain became so thunderous that Angie began choking on her every breath, unbeknownst to her doctor. Though he was being incredibly loud, the second she was able to let a soft, pained cry loose he skidded to a halt, panic striking him as he watched Angie turn pale – her frail body crumpling to the OR floor.

He raced towards her, dropping to his knees and sliding to her side, quickly checking her vitals. Becoming more panicked upon the result, he leapt to his feet and smacked the emergency call button with an open palm.

"Angie… come on Ang, wake up! Wake up!"

Quickly Derek gathered her near-lifeless body into his arms, constantly checking her pulse and finding it growing weaker by the minute. Without even noticing he pulled her even closer into his chest, rocking slowly and continually calling her name, heart pounding away in his chest as he waited for someone – anyone to respond to his call.

Just then, Naomi burst in the room followed quickly by Langston. They spanned the room before settling on the sight of Derek, his unconscious nurse huddled in his arms, his expression one of absolute terror.

"What's going on?!" Naomi asked, heels clicking as she ran towards the two of them, Langston motioning to gathering nurses outside to get back to work.

"I… don't know, she looked.. a little flushed and then she just collapsed, clutching her chest…" he said, the end of his sentence slowing to a stop as he realized the same thing Naomi was about to tell him.

"Do you think…?" she started.

"Go get the reader – quick…" he said dismally, turning his attention back to the woman in his lap as Naomi ran off into the next OR.

----------

"I'll say this before and I'll say it again – it is SO hard to dress an unconscious person…" Naomi muttered, walking from the room where Angie now laid, hooked up to seemingly every monitor the hospital had to offer.

Derek approached her quickly, a hand on the back of his neck, worried expression telling her everything she wanted to ask before even doing so.

Just then Langston walked to the two of them, paperwork in his hands. Derek felt his heart skip a beat at the sight – yes, GUILT patients worked up his nerves a little, but never like this… never before had so much been at stake.

"Dr. Kimishima, can I see you for a moment?" he asked, trying to pull her away to speak in private.

"No – if this is about Angie, I want to hear it." Derek said, stopping the two. Langston took a big breath in and let it out in a loud sigh.

"Very well, if you're sure you can handle it…" he said, flipping open the folder as Derek felt his legs begin to quiver. Langston handed a white piece of paper to Derek, who took it and scanned it over quickly, closing his eyes and exhaling shakily.

"What…?" Naomi asked.

"This Chiral Reading shows two distinct patterns…" he said almost disbelievingly. Naomi's eyes widened and she nearly ripped the paper from his grasp, looking it over herself.

"It's too late…" Derek whispered under his breath, the phrase not going unheard by Naomi.

The silver haired surgeon dropped the paper to her side, looking at Derek with narrowed eyes.

"Wow Captain Bringdown…" she said, crossing her arms. "Listen – there's no need to assume the worst. Though from the looks of this, I can tell you that if we don't operate immediately, she _will_ die.

Derek's heart sank at the mere sound of the word – thoughts of their time together spun through his mind at an incredible speed. He took in the memories of her smile, her cute laugh, her determination and brilliant mind, her kind heart and the way she looked at him – what was he supposed to do if he never got to see any of those things again?

"You're right – I'm sorry… we can do this…"

Feeling a small sting at the corners of his eyes, Derek turned away before it could progress any further, now facing Langston.

"Dr. Stiles, you take the operation. Dr. Kimishima, please provide any support necessary to Dr. Stiles during the procedure."

Hands on his hips, Derek nodded, followed by Naomi. His expression lightened and he glanced toward Angie's room longingly. The glance didn't go unnoticed by Naomi, who just rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"Make it quick – we gotta move here. Tell you love her and then meet me in the OR." she joked, watching Derek turn red as a tomato and try his best to ignore her, slowly walking into Angie's room.

He lingered at the other end of the room, taking in a sight he never wanted to see. Somewhere inside him wished that he was the one infected with the double strain of GUILT – that it was him hanging on for his life instead of her. She didn't deserve this – especially after all that had happened to her in the past few weeks…

Slowly stepping forward, Derek played with his hands as he made his way to the lone chair at her bedside, noting how much more color had drained from her since she had collapsed. He slowly sank down into the cold, metal chair, the slow beeping reminding him that her vitals were nearly dropping by the minute – there wasn't much time left.

"Angie… can you hear me?" he asked softly, failing to solicit a response. He was expecting it however, and reached forward, taking her small, slender hand and holding it with both of his. His heart fluttered gently as he held it, noting how it fit perfectly in his – something he had been wondering about for a long time.

Derek held her hand with both hands still, his right holding it still as his left slowly rubbed from her hand to her mid forearm repeatedly, his mouth opening to speak.

"Angie, it looks bad right now, I know… but you don't have to worry, alright? Dr. Kimishima and I are going to save you – I… I promise."

He paused for a minute, looking at the vital monitor which was hanging in the high 50's.

"I know that you're not awake right now and you probably can't hear anything I'm saying, but I really don't want you to worry about anything… you've been through so much. I know you must be scared, but don't be… because, well… I'll take care of you."

Derek noticed her vital stability take another small dip, signifying that he had to hurry up.

As his hand traced back and forth over the top of her arm, he stopped when her hand was exposed and leaned forward gently, placing a kiss on her soft, cold skin. His other hand came to rest over the place he had just kissed, eyes welling with tears as both hands encircled her hand once more, hanging his head sadly to try to regain his composure. A few brief moments later he stood from his chair, glancing at her one last time as his hands gave hers a reassuring squeeze.

"I'll be right here until you wake up Angie… I promise." he said, holding her hand in his against his chest as the other one softly brushed her cheek. He glanced towards the door just in time to see Dr. Kimishima pretend like she wasn't looking, which made him remember they had no more time to waste.

"Hang on Ang – I'll see you soon…" he said, readying himself to release her hand until a he felt a faint squeeze around his fingers that made his heart skip another beat. Looking down he noticed that Angie's eyes were still closed, but the smallest of smiles graced her pale lips. Her hand squeezed his once more before she slipped it from her grasp and rested it over her chest, smile fading gradually as she slipped back into unconsciousness.

Lingering for another minute Derek was forced to tear himself away from the sight, knowing that there wasn't much time left at all. He walked from the room to see Dr. Kimishima staring at him sadly, arms crossed in front of her.

"I know you were watching, but please don't make fun of me… alright?" he said with a shaky voice, avoiding her stare.

She paused for a second and then placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look back at her.

"Why would I make fun of you for being afraid to lose someone you love?" she asked quietly, watching as Derek's cheeks turned the slightest of pink.

He looked back into the room where she laid and then back at Dr. Kimishima.

"I know it's the job of a doctor to see a patient as only a patient, even when it's someone so close to us…" he started, running a hand back through his hair. "…but I can't tear myself away this time. Naomi… I… I really just need help – I can't think clearly right now. And I can't let…"

"…don't worry, Derek…" she interrupted, seeing him painfully try to make his way through the sentence. "Just don't worry – it's not a problem." she reassured, watching as he continually avoided her stare. Placing a hand on his shoulder again he looked up at her dismally.

"I know it's someone important to you, but that should just fuel you to work harder. She'll be fine, alright? I promise…"

A small smile trickled over Derek's lips. "You're right – let's get going…" he said, walking with Naomi towards the OR.

----------

"Alright, she's out…" Naomi said, looking at the anesthesia monitor.

"Scalpel…" Derek said, taking a big breath inward when he felt the instrument be placed in his palm. He placed the blade on her chest, freezing in action momentarily as he looked at the face that belonged to his patient – the sight shaking him once more.

"_No – I have to get through this..._" he thought to himself, putting pressure on the blade with his index finger and watching as little by little a cut formed. He gave the scalpel back to Naomi, widening the incision and taking a look inside.

Naomi let out a low whistle. Lacerations riddled Angie's heart, and though they had seen worse, they knew that the GUILT she had inside of her were the worst for laceration damage. Derek worked quickly and nimbly to sew up the lacerations, and just as he placed the needle and thread in the tray, two more giant cuts appeared as two baby Paraskevi came swimming to the surface.

Derek scrambled to grab the laser, lasering the Paraskevi and stunning them momentarily as he took the time to suture the wounds they had made.

"Forceps." he said, grabbing the small tweezers from Naomi.

"So you stun them by lasering their tail and then just lift them out?" she asked, having never dealt with this particular form of GUILT before.

"Yeah, usually they start out bigger so you have to keep cutting them until they're in this form… oh, shit!"

Just as Derek went to reach for the second Paraskevi it came out of its paralysis, latching onto Angie's heart and causing her vitals to drop as he unsuccessfully tried to pry it from her body.

He growled under his breath as Naomi lasered the tail of the worm for Derek.

"Thanks." he said, lifting it out this time with ease and placing it on the cold metal tray.

"I need some stabilizer… quick!" he said, knowing the second attack was going to come quickly.

Just as Angie's vitals began to climb, they stalled and then dropped again as another pair of Paraskevi made their entrance.

With another groan Derek threw down the stabilizer, reaching for the forceps as Naomi lasered the tails of the Paraskevi for him. He lifted them out and then sutured the subsequent wounds, just as the Kyriaki started attacking.

"I need the laser, scalpel, and the ultrasound." he said. Naomi handed him the laser that she had previously been holding and the scalpel, turning around to grab the ultrasound.

"One, two… three… four?! FIVE?!" he exclaimed, counting as each of the Kyriaki attacked from the inners of Angie's heart. Naomi continually fired the ultrasound, bringing the blue shadows into view as Derek cut out the first one and lasered it, listening to its sickening scream as it disintegrated. The doctors repeated the procedure for the second, third, and fourth Kyriaki, Angie's heart so riddled with bleeding lacerations that they could barely see what was going on anymore.

"Vitals are dropping!" Naomi grumbled, handing Derek the sutures as he got to work quickly. The last Kyriaki in her organ kept its attacks up, refusing to give Derek a break as he flew through suture after suture. Eventually he caught up to the Kyriaki's attacks, cutting it out from it's hiding place and turning the laser on it – feeling a smile tug at his lips as he watched it die before his eyes.

"Alright… How's the chirality looking?" Derek asked Naomi, his expression turning fretful as he watched her frown.

"There's still… two." she said, looking back at him.

"Two? As in, two patterns?" he questioned.

Naomi nodded. "As in, there should be another attack within minutes – the chiral reaction is rising very quickly."

The two surgeons stood and waited for the next attack as Derek pumped some stabilizer into Angie's heart, bringing her vitals as high as they would go while she still had GUILT inside of her.

"Get ready – here it comes!" Naomi exclaimed, readying herself with all the necessary tools.

The large Kyriaki made its standard tri-cut on Angie's heart just as another pair of Paraskevi made themselves visible.

"Laser!" Derek exclaimed, turning the laser on the Paraskevi the minute the tool touched his hand. He reached for the forceps and yanked at the Paraskevi, watching as time after time he tried it refused to give up its hold on Angie's heart, sending her vitals plummeting.

"It's bigger than the others – don't you need to cut it?!" Naomi exclaimed, scrambling furiously to find the stabilizer.

Derek sighed, reaching for his scalpel and cutting the worm in half, watching in disbelief as the Kyriaki still in the organ steadily covered the heart with wounds. There were too many things to do at one time and Derek found himself becoming visibly panicked, trying his best to keep up with attack after attack.

"Vitals are plummeting Derek, we need to do something!"

Derek lasered the two mini Paraskevi, lifting them both out and nearly throwing them in the waiting tray. He took a look as Angie's vitals hung in the low teens, the removal of the worms failing to balance out the new attacks that continued to come.

Nearly every inch of Angie's heart was now covered in lacerations from the hidden Kyriaki, her vitals steadily decreasing no matter how much stabilizer was pumped in.

"Alright, looks like it's time…" Naomi said under her breath, not going unheard by Derek.

"Time? Time for what?" he said, watching as her eyes narrowed.

"Here goes…" she said, picking up a needle and the suturing thread and setting to work on the lacerations. Derek lasered the two new baby Paraskevi, looking back up at Naomi once they were stunned.

"What are you talking ab—" he began to ask, cutting himself off as he looked at the monitor, mouth agape. Vitals were rising with every move that Naomi made, clearing up the lacerations in the process.

She was deep in concentration, quickly suturing cut after cut, feeling herself become more weak by the minute – Naomi knew that her healing touch was about to expire, but she was almost done.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the Paraskevi Derek had previously lasered had broken out of its stun, now swimming around again. As she continued to suture she looked up momentarily, realizing that Derek wasn't even paying attention anymore – his surprised gaze fixed on the monitors as he watched Naomi in action.

During the time of experimenting with her Healing Touch, Naomi found that it would expire immediately if she began speaking, due to the loss of concentration. That's why as she continued to improve Angie's continually dropping vitals she hoped that Derek snapped back to attention – she couldn't afford to stop just yet.

Though things took a turn for the worst as she noticed Derek start to work on the Kyriaki, overlooking one of the baby Paraskevi that were swimming on Naomi's side of the heart. She began to panic as she saw the Paraskevi wiggle it's tail back and forth once, signaling that it was ready to burrow.

With a low grumble, she looked at Angie's vitals, barely over the 50 mark.

"Derek!" she yelled, barely able to hold onto her concentration enough to continue suturing. He looked at her for an answer but she couldn't supply one, still trying to hold onto her concentration enough to pull vitals up to where they needed to be – with all the lacerations present Naomi's Healing Touch was saving them from a mad scramble to keep vitals up while repairing the damage made.

But as she saw the tail of the baby Paraskevi wag a second time, she knew she had to act – fast.

"The paraskevi!" she cried, nearly throwing herself over Angie's body and grabbing the laser out of Derek's hand. She shot a quick beam backwards toward the remaining Paraskevi…

…stopping it as it was halfway burrowed into the heart.

Derek and Naomi both glanced with surprised, relieved faces seeing that the head of the Paraskevi was completely submerged in the heart, the tail the only thing keeping it from burrowing and ending Angie's life.

Quickly Derek grabbed it with the forceps and pulled it out, sighing with relief as he dropped it in the pan. Tears immediately welled in his eyes, realizing how his mistake almost cost him so much. He looked up at Naomi who looked just as frazzled as he was.

"I need you to finish this… I can't do it…"

"Derek…" she started, but he interrupted her.

"Naomi, please – we have to keep going, but I'm too…"

"No, I understand…" she said, passing the ultrasound over the table to him. "Let's finish this." she said with a smile.

He made the shadows visible with the help of the ultrasound and cut them out, leaving her to chase them with the laser. She attacked the big Kyriaki for the third time, watching it dive underneath the surface.

"Damn I forgot how irritating this is…" she grumbled, receiving a small chuckle from Derek. She looked up just in time to see his expression soften, seeming as though he was settling down from the previous chain of events.

"Yeah – it is certainly a pain, that's for sure…" he said, cutting out the Kyriaki for her again. "This should be the last one…"

"Let's hope…" she muttered, determined expression turning into relief as the Kyriaki screamed and died upon being hit with the laser.

Derek let out a loud sigh, closing his eyes. "Chiral reaction is negative… we did it…"

He let a few chuckles escape as he reached for the other needle, helping Naomi sew up the remaining wounds. She reached for a different thickness of suture, sewing up the entrance wound Derek had created – all the while watching the doctor, his eyes glued to Angie's pale face.

"It's so crazy to know that after all that just happened, she's still sleeping so peacefully…" he mused, gaze still turned towards her. "…I can't believe my mistake almost…"

"Don't think like that, Derek…" Naomi replied, tying the final knot in her suture. "It's my fault for having such a wondrous Healing Touch…" she joked with a laugh, pulling Derek from his worrying with a chuckle.

The pair cleared the instruments off of Angie's table, repositioning her blankets and gown.

"Thank you Naomi – I really owe you one…" he said with the utmost sincerity, earning a smile from the silver-haired surgeon.

"You know what… that reminds me." she said with a devilish grin, causing Derek to become nervous.

"You sat here this whole time worried sick over this girl to the point of tears – you and I both know that's because of something more than her just being your assistant…" she started, Derek failing to see her point.

"So what if it is? We… sort of have a history together…" Derek said, his cheeks heating by the second.

"Well, you said you owed me. And I think you owe it to both her and yourself to tell her how you feel. So, we'll finally be even if the moment she wakes up, you tell her you love her."

Surprised at the request, Derek couldn't help but oblige for the sheer fact that if it wasn't for Naomi, Derek would've made a huge mistake and cost himself the only woman he had ever truly loved.

"Fine… it's a deal." he said, unlocking her bed with his foot. They turned and wheeled her into recovery - all that was left was waiting for her to wake up.

----------

Whoever said "patience is a virtue" obviously never worked in the field of medicine.

Sitting by her bedside again just as he promised her, Derek shifted his position frequently as the uncomfortable metal made him lose feelings in his butt and legs. Having just woken up from a small nap, he was dejected to see that nothing had changed – she should've woken up hours ago, but had not yet opened her eyes.

With the click of the door Naomi poked her head in, walking all the way in when she saw Derek give a small smirk her way.

"Has she moved at all yet?" she asked timidly, looking over her chart and the activities of the monitors.

"Nope… nothing…" he said, eyes still glued to her sleeping form.

"Oh… alright…" she said nervously.

"No – it's not alright…" Derek said sadly. "She was supposed to be awake hours ago…" he started, looking towards Naomi with a miserable stare. "What if she never wakes up?"

Naomi just stared at him, unsure of exactly what to say.

"Well…" she said, playing with her hands. "Maybe it's taking a bit longer because of all the trauma she sustained during surgery…" she offered, the explanation doing very little to reassure Derek.

"She'll be okay, Derek. She will."

Derek just nodded at Naomi's comment, eyes still glued to his nurse. He stayed quiet for a small while, the only sound breaking the silence was Naomi's heels clicking towards the door.

"I'm going to close the blinds and lock this door behind me – the nurses here have this tendency to pay attention to matters that don't concern them." she said with a small chuckle, twisting the blinds shut much to the dismay of the three nurses huddled outside the room.

The door clicked shut behind Naomi and once again Derek was alone in the stagnant silent air.

Needing a break from the hard chair, Derek rose to his feet and stretched his tired body, pacing around to the other side of Angie's bed. Placing a hand on her stomach and noting that her blanket was now cold, he paced over to the warmer in the corner and pulled a hot blanket from it, draping it over her form. A few small paces later he was back at her bedside, collapsing back into the chair.

"Come on Ang… you gotta wake up…" he whispered, feeling his eyes begin to sting again. "I… I need… you."

As soon as the words left his mouth he realized he had never said something so… honest, out loud about her. He also noticed that no matter how much he tried he was unable to stem the accumulating tears, feeling as though they would spill over at any moment.

Although it was taking a situation he had never wanted to happen, Derek finally realized as he lost the battle and a tear ran down his cheek how much he really cared for this girl. Reaching forward just like earlier he softly grabbed her hand and held it, his hands enveloping her tiny one completely.

"Come on Angie…" he said a bit louder than last time. "Just open your eyes – I know you can do it."

When his pleads were met with nothing but her continued breathing and monotonous beeping from the monitors Derek felt the strength literally drain from his body. He had been strong for her all day and had literally fought for her life… but now it seemed that it would all be in vain.

What if she never woke up? Who would even come close to replacing her?

No one. She was irreplaceable – she had to be alright, because he would never find another woman just like her. Even though they had a rocky start he had been falling for her from the very second she had walked into that room at Hope Hospital – finally feeling that he was able to classify his feelings as love as he sat at her bedside, praying with everything he had for her to open her eyes so he could tell her just that.

Still holding onto her hand he rested each of his elbows on his knees, pressing her palm to his lips as another tear ran down his cheek. He pressed her opened hand to his cheek, the feeling of her touch comforting him even though she wasn't doing it under her own power.

"Angie… I… love you…"

Barely audible, the words had still been said, and now the flow of tears increased. Almost to the point of sobbing, Derek pulled their hands just to the right of his mouth, resting them there as he closed his eyes, another tear falling down his already wetted cheek. He stayed in that position as unsteady breaths came and left his mouth, trying his best not to lose what little composure he had left. Eyes still squeezed shut he continued hoping and praying that somehow… someway, it would be alright.

Derek only opened his eyes when he felt a finger graze over his cheek, catching the fallen tear and wiping it away. He lifted his head up with shining eyes to see Angie with her head turned toward him, eyes barely open as she tried to weakly smile. He sat there and continued to look at her, a smile a mile wide stretching across his lips. A relieved sigh left him as he looked at her, tears continuing to flow out of sheer happiness. Though he felt a slight embarrassment for being caught worrying, Derek didn't care – she was okay.. she was going to be alright.

"Hey…" she said, her expression turning concerned as she woke up a little more, noticing that he was still upset. She turned her head toward him more, squeezing his hands with the hand that he held. "Derek…" she whispered, her own eyes welling with tears at the sight of her distraught doctor. She wondered just then if he was crying for the same reason she was…

"What's wrong?" she asked, a tear falling down her cheek as well. She smiled warmly as he reached up and brushed it away just like she had for him, her eyes watching him move to sit on the side of her bed. Instead of removing his hand from her face he left it there, hesitantly brushing the hair from her face. Seeing her smile at the action he traced downward, rubbing his hand from her hairline down her cheek and resting it there, his thumb tracing back and forth over her smooth skin, tears still in both of their eyes. She gently moved her face toward the hand that caressed her, nuzzling it as another one of her tears fell until it hit his palm.

"I just… got scared." he whispered under his breath, feeling comforted to touch her, knowing she was okay.

"Me too…" she said, gripping his hand tighter.

He smiled at the comment. "It's alright – Dr. Kimishima had to hold me together through the whole thing, but we made it out. You're going to be okay…"

He finished that sentence hesitantly, remembering Naomi's request.

"Derek…?" Angie asked softly, returning his gaze to her. "Derek, why did you say it like that?"

His heart began to race.

"You know…" he said with a chuckle, "I'll tell you – just not today. When you get better."

She raised an eyebrow at him "Derek – I just almost died. I think you should tell me, because it was scary and I say so."

She giggled at her comment, the smile disappearing as she watched Derek's expression turn sad one again, his gaze diverting away from her.

"Derek…? Oh Derek, I'm sorry…" she said, trying to sit up. She hissed as the stitches made themselves known, her tired body collapsing back onto the bed after what little progress she had made. He immediately jumped to check if she was okay, his hand impulsively squeezing hers.

"Angie, don't hurt yourself… I'll tell you, alright?" he said, chuckling when he watched her expression of triumph.

"Angie… I hate that it has to be like this…" he started, grabbing her other hand and pulling both of them into his chest. She watched him inquisitively, waiting to see what he was talking about.

"I hate that it took almost losing you for me to stop being so stubborn and finally tell you… how, I.. uh… feel."

He slowed his conversation to a stop, becoming so nervous that the words stuck somewhere in his chest.

But as he looked at her and remembered that she was alive and okay, he realized that it was pointless to hold it in another day.

"I've been falling in love with you since the day we started working together, Ang…" he said with a nervous chuckle, watching her eyes open as wide as he had seen them open since she had awoken.

"I'm sorry… to put something like that on you right now – that's why I wanted to wait…" he said, looking down at their hands, "but what happened today made me realize I didn't want to go another day without telling you."

The pair sat in silence for awhile, Derek still holding gently onto her hands. As time passed he worked up the nerve to look at her, noting that her face was stone.

"Derek…" she said softly, cocking her head just slightly to the right.

"No, it's alright…" he said with a chuckle, trying to play it off. "It's okay, I should've seen it coming…"

"Derek." she said firmly, grabbing his attention. "Derek, come here."

He hesitated, finally scooting closer to her with a questioning gaze.

"Closer." she said, watching as he looked at her inquisitively again and bent his torso toward her just a bit, raising an eyebrow.

Angie let a small smile trickle onto her face. "Closer." she whispered, watching him move until their faces were nearly touching. She saw the blush form on his cheeks and smiled harder, looking deep into his eyes.

"Do you know why I woke up today?" she asked with a voice barely above a whisper.

Derek gulped, shaking his head slowly. "No Angie… why?"

He felt her hands squeeze his tightly, pulling them closer to her. She looked down at them and smiled warmly, looking back up at him.

"…To tell you the exact same thing."

It took him by surprise, which was evident by the look on his face, prompting her to giggle at him.

"You mean…" he said, trying to suppress his smile and failing miserably.

"I wanted to say it before, but I was surprised how hard it was to stay awake…" she said.

Derek heaved a happy sigh, the breath tickling her face.

"And besides – I wanted to make sure I was better so I could have a happy memory of our first kiss…" she said, pink cheeks standing out against her pale skin.

Derek caught on quickly, her hint pretty obvious. "Are you sure?" he stupidly asked, watching her laugh at him and then nod her head.

"Can't wait another minute. Kiss me…" she demanded with a smile, seemingly already back to her old self – though Derek secretly wished more of her demands were like this... then maybe he wouldn't mind complying so much.

Derek blushed again as he closed in, only taking his eyes off of her when their lips connected and their eyes shut. She sighed contently on the other end of the kiss, hands abandoning his and slowly making their way up to his face, gently grazing the small stubble on his chin as they crept up and rested on his cheeks, continually pulling him back for kiss after sweet, soft, kiss. Eventually instead of returning for another kiss they just lingered in front of each other, sharing warm stares and smiles.

And from that day on, neither Derek nor Angie ever took each other or life for granted.

* * *

**Yeah, its long. Sorry. My bad.**

**Still hope you liked it! **


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